Portal:Technology Tools

From WikiCODOPN

Introduction

This DoPN Model Project draws on the diverse experience base of its Team Members and will provide tools to assist them.

The experience base / background of the Team includes:

experience in peace & justice organizations and educational institutions
"street smarts" - direct involvement with people who will be using the services offered by the DoPN
experience with government agencies, government grant and contracting processes
operating and managing non-profit NGOs
studies in conflict management and peacemaking
coaching, teaching, administering services
Systems Development / Modeling / Simulation

Methodology

In addition to the experience dealing with the "key Issues" of the Department of Peace and Nonviolence, the development Team will use state-of-the-art methodology and tools to help understand and develop complex organizations / systems.

In the process of carrying out complex human endeavors, we have learned ways to coordinate human activities and facilitate effective communication. Several basic ideas will be incorporated into the Model Project:

1) Start with a vision, a dream, and continue to describe it until it becomes an idea. Describe the idea until it becomes a possible concept - record it so others can review and comment and contribute their perspectives. Continue to add detail to this concept until it becomes a viable "design" or blueprint that can be constructed. Build a model and test it. Build the real thing and test it. If it works, put it to use.

2) Take a complex situation and divide it (break it down) into smaller parts that can be accomplished by small groups and/or individuals. Plan, sequence, and schedule each smaller activity so that all pieces come together to form a larger part in a timely manner

3) Describe / Document how each smaller work product fits together with other pieces to form a larger piece.

In the scientific world, this process is called Systems Development.

We are currently exploring the use of "systems development", "object oriented analysis" and similar methodology for application to this Model Project. Fortunately each of these methodologies include "tools" to facilitate the development process.

Sceptics will argue that there is no way a computer model can begin to describe how a complex organization like the Department of Peace and Nonviolence will actually function. They will argue that a computer model can not begin to describe how effective / ineffective a Department of Peace will be.

The sceptics may be correct; HOWEVER, the mere exercise of using a structured approach to describing a complex system provides insight and understanding of that system. As a result, there is a better understanding (and documentation) of all the critical functions of the new organization as it is being developed. This understanding increases the probability the organization will be effective in carrying out its intended purpose.

We have chosen the key issue of gang violence for a number of reasons including:

1) the issue pertains to many cities,

2) researchers indicate that few if any current gang reduction programs have evidence of being effective in a meaningful way.

3) the issue involves youth - the DoPN will be responsible for addressing the root cause of gang membership which is known to be very complex and multifaceted. The complexity of this issue is a reason why we need a dedicated organization to develop effective intervention programs.

4) gang violence is currently being addressed by a number of partnering Departments at the federal level including the Department of Justice, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Education and the Department of Labor. To borrow a phrase from Dr. Phil McGraw "How's that working for you?"

The Modeling exercise will help illustrate why we need the dedicated focus of the Department of Peace and Nonviolence.

Specific Tools for System Development

With today's computer technology, there are a number of "tools" that allows us to document the many stakeholders who will be involved and what their expectations/needs/requirements are.

Unified Modeling Language (UML)

In the area of "System Development", a tool is evolving called Unified Modeling Language or the UML.

"Why? The UML is a visual modeling language that enables system builders to create blueprints that capture their visions in a standard, easy-to-understand way, and provides a mechanism to effectively share and communicate these visions with others.

Because system development involves communication among people, the potential for error lurked at every stage of the process.

The analyst might have misunderstood the client.
The analyst might have produced a document the client couldn't comprehend. To add to the mess, analysts often created wordy, voluminous requirements documents that were difficult for others on the project team to work with. Paradoxically, the sheer weight of these documents often allowed important requirements (and dependencies among requirements) to slip through the cracks. Thus the results of the analysis might not have been clear...

The key is to organize the design process in a way that analysts, clients, programmers, and others involved in system development can understand and agree on. The UML provides the organization.

Just as you wouldn't build a complex structure like an office building without first creating creating a detailed blueprint, you wouldn't build a complex system to inhabit that office building without first creating a detailed design plan. The plan should be one that you could show a client just as surely as an architect shows a blueprint to the person who's paying for a building. That design plan should result from a careful analysis of the client's needs."

Ref: Joseph Schmuller, Sams Teach Yourself UML in 24 Hours, Third Edition, Sams Publishing, 2004.

VISIO Professional (License available for the Modeling Team)

Visio 2007 drawing and diagramming software makes it easy to visualize, explore, and communicate complex information. Visio diagrams communicate information at a glance. Instead of static pictures, create data-connected Visio diagrams that display data, are easy to refresh, and dramatically increase your productivity. Use the diagrams to understand, act on, and share information about organizational systems, resources, and processes throughout your enterprise.

Integrate data with diagrams to combine disparate sources of complex visual, textual, and numeric information. Data-connected diagrams provide visual context for data and create a complete picture of a system or process.

Rhapsody (License available for the Modeling Team)

Rhapsody is a Model Driven Development tool for Systems Engineering, Software Development and Test of Embedded, Real-time Applications or Technical Systems

Telelogic Rhapsody® is an industry-leading UML® 2.1 and OMG SysML™-based Model Driven Development™ (MDD™)environment for technical, real-time or embedded systems and software engineering. Based on UML 2.1, Rhapsody allows for both function-oriented and object-oriented graphical design techniques to co-exist in one environment.

CRADLE

Recently NASA has selected a tool called CRADLE to assist them with their renewed effort to return humans to the Moon and eventually to Mars. We intend to explore the feasibility of using this or a similar tool on the DoPN Model project.

For details on CRADLE, see http://www.threesl.com

This computer tool is currently being evaluated for the model project. Early assessment finds it robust and flexible for describing complex organizations / systems. We are currently translating the 109th Congress's legislation (e.g. H.R. 3760 / S. 1756) into a "Requirements" document for import into the Cradle Tool to begin constructing a computer model that will simulate the operation and functional aspects of the proposed department. The scope of this modeling effort will be extremely narrow. We will limit the project to a regional model that focuses on one key issue - Gang-Related Violence.

The 1-1/2 month evaluation period has ended. There is no question that Cradle would be a valuable asset for the modeling effort and could handle all the UML perspectives/diagrams we would want to create as we envision how this new Department would actually operate. Cradle would also help us model the Department's potential "performance" and effectiveness.

--MiltH 22:12, 26 February 2007 (EST)

TAU

A tool with extensive application and proven to be useful for developing complex systems is Telelogic's TAU. For more details see: http://www.telelogic.com/products/tau/index.cfm

Telelogic supports a number of other related products that can also be considered for this project.

Poseidon for UML

Poseidon for UML software let's you develop systems without entanglements in your development environment so you retain the advantage of clarity and simplicity of the UML process. Powerful features such as round trip engineering and documentation generation have been implemented without the overhead common to other UML tools.

Poseidon for UML incorporates inherently simple functionality with an "intuitive interface."

The Project is currently involved in discussions to obtain an Open Source License to use the Poseidon Tool to assist the Modeling effort. Should such a License be granted, the Project Team would adhere to the Poseidon Open Source License Policy.

Mathematics of Peace

How can mathematics be useful in the peace industry?

Actually the DoPN system development effort will be limited to a "functional analysis" unless a "Mathematics of Peace" is developed. After the functional analysis phase, work will begin to develop a performance model that attempt to quantify the operation of the Department of Peace and Nonviolence.

Example 1: Math used to determine the Cost of Violence

We often hear the phrase, "just do the math." This can apply to the field of peacemaking as well.

We can take a U.S. Taxpayer's perspective and examine the annual cost of domestic violence. According to the World Health Organization, interpersonal violence costs the U.S. over $300 Billion a year. That's $1000/person.

The proposed cost of operating the new Department of Peace and Nonviolence is $8-10 Billion. Let's do the math.

If the DoPN reduces interpersonal violence in the U.S. by just three percent (3%), that will save Americans $9 Billion dollars a year - and Taxpayers breaks even.

If the DoPN reduces violence by five percent (5%), the operation of the Department of Peace and Nonviolence will actually save money for the U.S. Imagine that, a government agency (other then the Treasury Department) that makes money (i.e. diverts non-value added effort consumed in fixing violence to constructive efforts that contribute value to our country's economy.)

Example 2: Math used to Quantify Peace

There is another "Mathematics of Peace" that we need to develop.

Mathematics is just another language or form of symbolism.

Common use of Mathematics

For example, we use English to express a well known observation in nature.

"The acceleration "a" of an object is directly proportional to the force "F" applied to the object divided by the mass "m" of the object."

Using the symbolism of math, that English sentence can be expressed as a Mathematical sentence, i.e.

$F=ma$

And what is even more convenient, using the "rules" of math, we can write a different sentence that tells use how to quantify the acceleration of an object (e.g. car).

$a = F/m$

In English, this says that the acceleration "a" of a car is equal to the force "F" exerted on the car (torque or Horse power from the engine, transferred to the tires that react against the road) divided by the mass "m" of the car.

Proposed Use of Mathematics for Peace

The following is very preliminary and requires the insights of many more people.

Let's first define Peace as the combination of "negative peace" and "positive peace" as follows:

$Peace = Negative\/Peace + Positive\/Peace \textit [1]$

Using simplified interpretations of "Negative" and "Positive" peace, we have the following expression:

$Peace = Absence\/of\/Violence\/+Availability\/of\/Opportunities \textit [2]$

Peacefulness of an Individual

Correspondingly in the English language, "The Peacefulness of a society as experienced by a particular individual is the sum of all the opportunities for growth minus the sum of all the forms of violence."

The Peacefulness experienced by a given individual, denoted as "i", can be expressed in the language of Math:

$Peacefulness(i) = f(\large \sum_{j=1}^n\/Opportunities(i)_j - \sum_{k=1}^m\/Violence(i)_k) \textit [3]$

where:

The mathematical symbol, $\large \sum$ is used to denote the "summation of"

The symbol "f( )" is used to denote "is a function of"

The subscript "i" is used to uniquely denote each person living in the U.S. from 1 to 300,000,000)

The subscript "j" is used to uniquely number the opportunity from 1 to n, and where n is the total number of actual opportunities for growth that we can identify for this person)

The subscript "k" is used to uniquely number each form of violence this person experiences from 1 to m, and where "m" is the total number of violent situations occurring to this person that we can identify)

When written in English, equation [3] above would be translated as

"The measure of the peacefulness of a society as experienced by individual(i) is a function of the summation of all the opportunities that are actually available to this particular person, minus the summation of all the forms of violence (situations that prevent this particular person from reaching his/her potential) that exist within the society."

Equation [3] also captures the observation that the peacefulness of a society is experienced differently for each person. To expand on that observation further, we rewrite equation [3] as:

$Peacefulness(i) = f(\large \sum_{j=1}^n\/Opportunities(i)_j - \sum_{k=1}^m\/Violence(i)_k)\textit [3]$

Where: $\/Opportunities(i) = \large \sum_{j=1}^n \/ Actions\/that\/Promote\/Individual\/Growth_j+\large \sum_{k=1}^m\/Actions\/that\/Promote\/Collective\/Growth_k\textit [4]$

$\/Violence(i) = \large \sum_{j=1}^n\/Actions\/that\/Limit\/Individual\/Growth_j+\large \sum_{k=1}^m\/Actions\/that\/Limit\/Collective\/Growth_k\textit [5]$

Peacefulness of a Society

Assuming there are 300,000,000 people in the U.S., the Peacefulness of the U.S. could be represented as:

$Peacefulness (US) =\large \sum_{i=1}^{300,000,000}Peacefulness(i)\textit [6]$

The "average" Peacefulness (per capita) would be" $Average\/Peacefulness (US) =\large \sum_{i=1}^{300,000,000}Peacefulness(i)/300,000,000\textit [7]$

For a more discussion, please see Mathematics of Peace

Math Vocabulary

Math symbol	English translation
$\large \sum$	The Greek letter Sigma is used to represent a process called "summation" or adding up a bunch of things. Example: You go to the grocery store and arrive at the checkout with a cart containing 10 grocery items. The clerk sums up the cost of all your items and gives you a total cost. $Total\/cost = \large \sum_{i=1}^{10}Grocery\/Item(i)$
$\large \sum_{i=1}^{10}$	In English, this says, perform the summation of items number 1 through 10, where 10 is the number of grocery items you had in your cart this time. Since the number of items varies each time you go to the store, a mathematician would probable generalize the total number as "n" and express the checkout process mathematically as: $Total\/cost = \large \sum_{i=1}^nGrocery\/Item(i)$

Math Grammar - conventional usage

Math symbol	Mathematical grammar
i	Lower case i, j, k are often used to denote a particular batch of items.
x	Lower case x, y, z are often used to denote "variables." Variables can also be represented in a more descriptive (but labor intensive) way, i.e. instead of using x to denote the grocery items in your cart, let's use the variable "Grocery_Item" That will work too - it's just 11 keystrokes instead of 1 if we used "x"

Visualization Techniques

Use of Graphs

We often hear, "A picture is worth a thousand words."

Example 1: The U.S. Federal Budget

The Federal Budget is so complex no one person can comprehend all its detailed information. Budget specialist are assigned to a given Department and attempt to accurately understand that Department's expenditures. It is left to the Taxpayer to review and understand how their tax dollars are being spent. Graphs are often used to help comprehend complex information.

Taxpayer Question: How much do we spend each year dealing with International issues?

This includes protecting ourselves from real and perceived attempts by other countries/groups to do harm to us. (Department of Defense)
This includes actively attempting to solve differences between ourselves and other countries. This includes aid and support to other countries that are in some form of need (e.g. natural disasters, internal conflict, external aggression, etc.). (Department of State)
This includes building trade relationships with other countries. (Department of Commerce)

Here's an example of how a chart can quickly provide a perspective on how much we spend on international issues using the 2006 Federal Budget numbers.

Currently, of course, there are only three Departments with any significant budget related to "International Affairs/Issues/Activities" - the Department of Defense ($419B), Department of State ($33B), and Department of Commerce($9B). The proposed budget for the Department of Peace ($8B) is added to the histogram / bar chart for perspective.

"If the only tool we have is a hammer, we'll make everything look like a nail."

The Department of Peace would continue to conduct research and develop new tools using the demonstrated power of non-violence. The research budget of the U.S. Institute of Peace^[1] might increase by an order of magnitude. We would not abandon or weaken our defensive posture or get rid of our hammers, but we would also acquire new tools. With our hammers COMBINED WITH a saw, level and builder's square, we could become world class peacebuilders.

The 2006 budget for domestic activities is provided below for perspective:

Use of Flow Charts, Diagrams, etc.

Example 2: DoPN Flow of Information

The graphic on the Main Page of this Wiki site is actually a "flow chart" that identifies the primary stakeholders, as well as the "flow" of information, funding, services, and products between the parties involved.

The flow chart depicts how the DoPN might operate in collaboration with Partner Departments. One can visualize the operation and then agree or disagree with the "flow" indicated. Someone might immediately observe that the "Media" are not represented in this "operation." The Media could be added and the flow of information be updated.

References / Notes

↑ The United States Institute of Peace is an independent, nonpartisan, national institution established and funded by Congress. Its goals are to help prevent and resolve violent conflicts, promote post-conflict stability and development, and increase peacebuilding capacity, tools, and intellectual capital worldwide. The Institute does this by empowering others with knowledge, skills, and resources, as well as by directly engaging in peacebuilding efforts around the globe

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